Somehow she knew he'd be there, waiting for her patiently. And of course, she was right. He was. As she rounded the corner in the El Casa hotel of Madrid, Spain, she saw Julian Sark standing near the door, just as she expected. Knowing that there was no escape, she slowly approached him.

"Why are you here, Sark? Once wasn't good enough, you want to hurt me again?"

"There are a few things that were left unsaid when we parted, Sydney. Many of them on my part. I know you're angry with me, but will you please just give me five minutes of your time?"

"Play nice and I'll make it ten." At that, he gives her his signature smirk/smile.

"Do you by any chance know of a place where we could talk privately?"

"Of course. I'm in Room 315. I'll meet you there in ten minutes. There's something I have to do first."

"If you insist."

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Sydney walked out the door and into the nearest alley. She almost instantly heard a voice in her ear, coming from the speaker headset, which connected her to her back up.

"What was that about, Sydney?" said Michael Vaughn, surprisingly calmly.

"I don't believe that is any of your business, Agent Vaughn. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. I simply needed to inform you I'm going radio silent." She pulled the earpiece out of her ear and threw it into the nearest dumpster. She then walked back out of the alley and into the El Casa. Three minutes later, she was back in her room, staring into the bluest eyes she'd ever looked into.

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"Sydney, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I left."

"The job was over. You had no reason to stay."

"You know that's not true. Correct, we were done with our work together. But more went on in those two months than just work. I shouldn't have run out on you without speaking to you about what you wanted to do."

"Then why'd you do it?"

"I was scared."

"The infamous Mr. Sark? Scared?"

"This is serious Sydney. And yes, I was scared. I was scared of loving you, of hurting you. But most of all, I was scared of someone realizing you were my weakness, my Achilles heel, and you being hurt because of it." Tears came to her eyes and as she realized the reason for her week of heartache, they spilled down her cheeks. Sark quickly approached and wiped them away. "Does this mean I'm forgiven or is this when you pull your gun out and shoot me in my cold, unfeeling bastard heart?" he asked, laughing quietly.

"This is serious, remember Julian."

"Of course darling. And I'm glad we're back on a first name basis." He pushed her back until her shoulders came into contact with the wall and then lowered his face and gently kissed her. She responded immediately, heating up the simple kiss when she probed his lips with her tongue, begging to be let in. Sark groaned with pleasure, but was interrupted by banging on the door. "You going to answer that?" he asked Sydney.

"I guess I better." She walked towards the door. She opened it, looked out, and then promptly shut it again.

"What was that about, Syd?" Then he heard a muffled voice from the other side of the door.

"SYDNEY! OPEN THE DOOR NOW!" It was Michael Vaughn. A very upset Michael Vaughn.